Published by Jessica Weisman-Pitts
Posted on October 25, 2022
3 min readLast updated: February 3, 2026
By Kristin Zell, Director of Sales, Lending at Jack Henry
The pandemic has changed the lending industry forever and has left consumers expecting modern digital experiences at every stage of their financial institution relationship. Now, with a possible recession in sight, staying up to date on digital channels is more important than ever to satisfy customer expectations and compete with tech-savvy fintechs. When it comes to lending, community and regional banks and credit unions are familiar with changing focus to keep up with shifting markets or trends but may be falling behind due to a lack of automation, communication, and transparency.
Here are four reasons why:
In today’s digital world, the demands of borrowers can be satisfied much more effectively with a fully digitized and flexible lending process. For example, investing in a single platform technology model for loan origination eliminates the possibility of error, increases efficiencies, and gives borrowers faster access to funds, boosting satisfaction rates.
Some key features of a single platform model that will benefit both financial institutions and their customers and members are:
Improving the accountholder’s digital banking experience should be a priority for banks and credit unions in order to compete with tech-savvy fintechs and larger financial institutions. Investing in modern technology, like a single loan platform, will yield more volume, lower overhead, increase profit margins, provide faster access to capital, and ultimately, lead to happier customers and members.
Loan origination is the process of creating a new loan, which includes application, underwriting, and funding. It involves evaluating a borrower's creditworthiness and determining the loan terms.
Automation in banking refers to using technology to perform tasks that traditionally required human intervention, such as processing loans, managing accounts, and customer service, improving efficiency and accuracy.
Community banks are smaller financial institutions that focus on serving local customers and businesses. They often emphasize personal relationships and community involvement.
Underwriting is the process of evaluating the risk of insuring or lending to a borrower. It involves assessing credit history, income, and other factors to determine loan approval.
Digital banking is the digitization of all traditional banking activities, allowing customers to conduct financial transactions online or through mobile applications, enhancing convenience and accessibility.
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